Proof of Concept

 

Even though I have been weaving for 40+ years, I still 'sample'.  The way in which I sample will vary because I now have a rather large foundation of knowledge I can reference.

The current warp (long delayed by Other Things) is now finally weaving.

To recap - when I 'retired' I thought I would be able to approach weaving from a more intellectual, more experimental viewpoint.  Instead covid arrived, I became a bear of little brain for a number of health related reasons, and so I concentrated on simply using up as much of my stash as I could possibly weave.

My approach was straight 'form follows function'.  I had X yarn, it is good for Y use, what can I make that will be interesting to weave and hopefully nice enough for someone to buy?

But I had sent that thought - that ill formed desire - out into the universe and I suppose it never really went away because I found myself poking around in the recesses of my mind until this idea popped up, pretty much fully formed.

I had been playing with using up my 2/20 mercerized cotton and began combining it with 2/16 as warp and getting some nice textiles (for tea towels) as a result.

Suddenly (it seemed) all the pieces fell together and I had a huge a-ha moment.  

It was a concept I played around with, yikes, 20+ years ago, but set aside.  At the time I was primarily working with Summer and Winter, but S&W is slow weaving and since my priority was to get food on the table, I needed to focus on something less time consuming.  So the cloth that I was making, weaving S&W on a double two tie unit weave threading, got set aside.

Only to come back to haunt me as twill blocks.  I had done 'regular' twill on double two tie unit threading lo, those 20+ years ago, but recently I had been playing around with 'ordinary' twill blocks for a while and realized that I could offset, or overlap - still not sure what word is the best to use - the twill blocks and come up with something more intricate, more complex that a four block unit weave could potentially provide.

After rumbling it around in the more conscious part of my brain for a few days, I tried to record what I wanted to do in Fiberworks, but realized I needed to be able to *see* the blocks and how they would overlap in order to generate a workable tie up and treadling.  So it was 'old school' - point paper, pencil and eraser.

Given my record of threading errors this year, I chose to do something very simple, knowing that if it worked I could develop something more complex in a later warp.  And if it didn't work, a simple progression could be switched to something else without too much angst.

Well, I *finally* got to the loom this morning and started weaving.  And it works!  I was pretty sure it would, but of course the final judgement will be made after wet finishing.  Because what is on the loom is not - yet - 'real' cloth.

However, I've been happy enough with this combination of yarns in ordinary twill blocks and fancy twills that I'm pretty sure it will be fine.  

Until the wet finishing happens though, it's not 100%!  Which is why I am considering this warp a Proof of Concept warp (iow, a sample) and while I'm weaving on it I'm letting it seep into my brain, looking for ways I can push it here, nudge it there, and come up with more 'interesting' designs.

I am being aided in this creative exploration by a book I just received.  I *thought* it was a book on textile design fundamentals.  Instead it is a philosophical look at creativity and it is blowing the cobwebs out of my brain!

I've only just begin, read the Introduction, and about half of Chapter One and expect to have further revelations as I read on.  It will take some time though, because this book is meant to be savoured, small bites, chewed well.  Not one to rush through, at all.  Watch this space for more...